Kerala: NDA secures historic victory at Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, LDF faces setback as UDF emerges as winner in most local bodies

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) grabbed a massive win in Kerala’s capital city in the local body elections. They have emerged as the winner in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, snatching it from the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) hands after 45 straight years. LDF has faced a massive setback in the elections, as UDF has emerged as the winner in most other bodies.

NDA picked up 50 out of the 101 wards in Thiruvananthapuram. The ruling LDF slipped way down to 29 seats. Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) managed 19 seats, two went to Independents, and one ward’s polling got cancelled because a candidate died last week.

This shakes up the city’s power balance big time. NDA now stands ready to take charge of the next municipal corporation. Notably, Thiruvananthapuram district is the home ground of top Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

Apart from the corporation in Thiruvananthapuram, NDA also won two municipalities. They have the Palakkad and Tripunithura Municipalities, as counting for the 2025 Kerala local body elections wrapped up on Saturday, 13th December.

With 50 seats for NDA, BJP is set to appoint the mayor for the city. And it is being speculated that ex-DGP R Sreelekha will become the mayor. Sreelekha is Kerala’s first woman IPS officer. She won from the Sasthamangalam division of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation,

NDA wins Tripunithura and Palakkad

In Ernakulam district’s Tripunithura Municipality, NDA just barely got the majority with 21 seats in the 53-member council. LDF came close with 20, and UDF dropped to third with 12.

This marks the very first time the BJP has control of the Tripunithura Municipal Council. It’s an A-grade municipality that’s been swapped between LDF and UDF for years. But this time, after a tough fight, NDA pushed LDF out. Back in the 2020 elections, with 49 wards, CPI(M) topped with 23 seats, and the BJP had 17. Now with 53 wards, voters swung hard toward the NDA.

NDA kept its grip on Palakkad Municipality too, making it even stronger in this key city spot. BJP led with 25 seats, UDF got 18, and LDF fell to nine. Palakkad remains one of the BJP’s best municipal strongholds in the state.

UDF major winner

While BJP has won the capital city, Congress-led UDF emerged as the major winner in the Kerala local body polls, and the rulling LDF faced a major setback. Out of the 6 municipal corporations, UDF has won, and LDF has won just 1. UDF emerged winner in the corporations in Kollam, Kochi, Thrissur and Kannur, while LDF won only Kozhikode. NDA won 13 seats in Kozhikode and 12 in Kollam, marking major gains.

Among the 86 municipalities, UDF won in 54, LDF in 28, apart from 2 won by NDA. Similarly, UDF won 504 panchayats, LDF won 341, and NDA won 64 panchayats.

PM Narendra Modi expressed his gratitude to the people of Kerala for voting for BJP and NDA. He posted on X, “My gratitude to the people across Kerala who voted for BJP and NDA candidates in the local body polls in the state. Kerala is fed up of UDF and LDF. They see NDA as the only option that can deliver on good governance and build a #VikasitaKeralam with opportunities for all.”

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that it is a day of “amazing results” for Kerala’s democracy. He gave props to UDF for doing great overall and nodded to BJP’s “historic” win in the corporation.

Tharoor put up a long post on X: “What a day of amazing results in the Kerala local self-government elections. The mandate is clear, and the democratic spirit of the state shines through.” He cheered UDF, saying, “A huge congratulations to the UDF for a truly impressive win across various local bodies. He added that he want to acknowledge the historic performance of the BJP in Thiruvananthapuram.

BJP state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar cheered the historic Thiruvananthapuram Corporation victory. “People in Thiruvananthapuram accepted our stance that the CPM has done little for the city’s development over the past 45 years. Since I personally campaigned during the elections, we had a clear sense of the outcome,” he said. “We were not concerned about the numbers; what mattered was capturing the corporation. That was our goal, and we achieved it.”

About ordering laddus a day before the results, he explained, “The laddus were ordered to celebrate the victory. V V Rajesh and Sreelekha were offered laddus as part of the celebration, but the party will officially finalise the Mayor after holding discussions among the state and district leaderships. The decision will be announced within a day or two. There is no need for any speculation.”

Kerala local body elections happened in two rounds on December 9 and 11. State Election Commission says overall turnout was 73.69%: 70.91 % in the first phase and 76.08 % in the second.

Written by OpIndia Staff
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